Valyrian Steel
by Kiera Embers
Summary: Arya is given a name, Daenerys Targaryen, but when she arrives in Pentos she finds her way home. Two women who refuse to be ruled by men travel across the Narrow Sea to retake their homes in a song of Ice and Fire.


Valyrian Steel

Arya is given a name, Daenerys Targaryen, but when she arrives in Pentos she finds her way home. Two women who refuse to be ruled by men travel across the Narrow Sea to retake their homes in a song of Ice and Fire.

Chapter 1: The Wolf Who is No One

**For the purposes of this story, ages have been shifted. These events take place two to three years after ADWD. By GRRM standards that would mean Arya is 13/14 and Daenerys is 17/18. I will try not to state their age during the story and you can mentally adjust it to what you feel most comfortable with. Personally I like Arya at 16/17, but GRRM seem to like writing them young. I've always found that slightly disturbing, but being a history major also understandable.**

The girl who was once Arya awoke with the taste of blood in her mouth, the blood of a man. She had trained for years to become no one, and for most of the day she succeeded in this endeavor. When she did her chores she was no one, when she spoke to the kindly man she was no one, when she watched those that would receive the gift she was no one. But in the moments before she dozed off she was Arya Stark of Winterfell.

When she recited the names that would receive her gift she was Arya. When she slept she dreamed of Winterfell and lemon cakes, the dreams of a sad girl from the North. And when she killed she saw the faces of those she named. Most nights she dreamed in the body of her wolf, hunting, killing and eating men. Men from the south wearing crimson, men that tasted of salt, men wearing the pink flayed man, men wearing the twins. Those nights she was Nymeria and Arya, those nights she was as close to happy as she could ever be. And in the morning when she woke she had to remind herself that she was no one.

Arya reached for the pitcher by her bed and drank to wash the taste of blood out of her mouth. That night she and her pack had feasted on Frey men, one of them had nicked her shoulder with a dagger and Arya could still feel that wound. She did not bother to check her shoulder, she had learned long ago that whatever wound she sustained during her wolf dreams lingered into the morning. There would be no cut, but the pain was there. Aya stood and stretched, she looked around and recited her morning ritual.

"I am no one." She whispered to herself. "I am no one"

She repeated this to herself about a dozen times until she was no one. No one grabbed the wash basin at the foot of her bed and filled it. She splashed cold water in her face and was reminded of summer snow. She pinched herself and repeated "I am no one". No one reached under the bed for the linen wraps she used to bind her breasts. She removed them only for sleep and baths. They had grown in the last 2 years, much to her annoyance. Her hair had also grown below her shoulders, when she tried to cut it off again the Waif had stayed her hand.

"It is better this way, a girl with short hair is remembered for her oddity. You can just be another pretty face." she had said in the common tongue as she removed the shears from Arya's hands

"I'm not pretty." Arya had responded in Bravossi

The Waif had merely smiled and walked away with the shears.

Arya's Bravossi tongue had improved, as well as her High Valyrian. The kindly man had told her that if she knew high Valyrian that all the tongues of the free cities would be open to her. Maester Luwin and Septa Mordane had taught her the Valyrian Alphabet and a few words, the Waif and Kindly man taught her the rest. No one repeated in High Valyrian and the Bravossi tongue "I am no one"

She brushed and braided her stubborn hair, then wore her robes. Most of the initiates and priests were wearing the heavier robes to stave of the cold winter. But the cold did not bother the girl who was no one, she often thought they were weak. Winter had come to Westeros but it was barely appearing in Bravoss. There hadn't even been snow. This was no proper winter, even if it was No One was once a Stark of Winterfell and she welcomed the cold.

No One walked lightly down the stairs, Izembaro had trained her to never make a noise when she walked, weather it be on stone steps of a leaf covered forest floor. He had also taught her to swim and hide in deep water, to travel along rooftops and stalk prey. She was not yet a faceless man, but she was sent on missions and given faces. The kindly man did not think her ready for the title, but he said she was ready for the work. The insurance seller was only the first of many. Since then she had been on over 12 missions, more than most initiates a fact that ruffled a few feathers. She reached the kitchen only to find the Kindly man was already waiting for her. He smiled at her. "Who are you?"

"I am no one"

"We shall see. There is a name that may receive the gift."

"May?"

"You are to watch the dragon Queen in Pentos. Find a way into her household and listen. If she decides to set her gaze on Bravoss you will send word. If she is to receive the gift you will return, if not you will stay and listen." He held her chin and stared into her eyes. "This face, though pretty, will not be enough. You will need more to listen to the Targaryen girl and her people."

No one frowned. She had often told the Kindly man that she was not pretty, and he scolded her. "Those are the words of Arya, you wish to be no one."

The kindly man handed her two faces. "This is the face of a girl who came to us to escape an unwanted marriage to a cruel man." he said as he held up the face of a woman with long black hair. "This is the face of a girl who lost everyone and wished to join them." he said holding up a face with auburn hair. "Who will you be?"

She stared at the faces and pondered for a moment. The dark haired face would be Anna, like her-Arya's aunt, the other would be Kat. "Kat and Anna"

The kindly man frowned "you choose Cat too often for someone who claims to be no one. "

"This Kat is spelt with a K" she shot back in defense.

The kindly man smiled and reached under the table. He held out something long, thin and wrapped in linen. "If the dragon doesn't turn its gaze on Bravoss you will have need of this."

No one started to unwrap the linen when the kindly man stopped her "Not here". No one nodded. The kindly man smiled and handed her a bag of coins, "for your passage. Go to the Waif and ask for clothes and supplies. She is expecting you. you should eat quickly."

No one packed food for the journey to Pentos, she bit into a loaf of honeyed nut bread that had been left behind from the night before. She found the Waif who helped her pick out clothes. There was a pair of leather trousers that fit her well and laced from the sides that she snatched to her chest. The Waif chuckled and handed her a blue dress with roses trimmed along the hem and collar. It reminded her of an acorn dress and blue eyes belonging to a stubborn boy.

"Stupid" she mumbled to herself.

The Waif laughed and found a few more dresses, No one managed to find a Tunic and vest to go with the soft leather pants. The Waif tossed her a pair of boots that would have reached over her knees.

"You should find a cobbler in Pentos to soften the soles so you can make less noise when you are on the roofs" She said as she tossed her another pair of shoes.

"I don't need this much." She grumbled.

"You do not know when you will return. It is better to go with too much then not enough, besides I like dressing you, I get to see you wear what I never could."

No one stiffened. She was still short for her age, she remembered her sister was very tall, but the Waif would never grow. She took the dresses and stuffed them into a sack. The gold the kindly man had given her was enough to buy additional supplies when she arrived at Pentos. The Waif handed her another sack. "The Strangler, Sweet Sleep, Tears of Lys, Manticore venom for your dagger, Widows blood and some moon tea."

"Why in the seven hells would I need that!"

The waif shrugged her shoulders and flashed No one a mischievous smile. She scoffed at the Waif's face and took the sac from her.

"Board the Purple maidan at the Ragman Harbor by noon." She said and hugged No one goodbye.

No one left the house of black and white, as she made her way to the Ragmans Harbor she opened what The Kindly man had given. A flash of steel caught the early morning light and Arya shed a single tear. She had her old friend.


End file.
